Research Education/Training Core Leadership for the Research Education/Training Core will be provided by Edith Ramsay- Johnson, EdD (Professor of Nursing, UVI) who served as Co-director with Faye A. Gary, PhD, RN, FAAN, (Professor and Endowed Chair in Vulnerable Populations, Case Western Reserve University) of the Investigator Development Core. Dr. Ramsay-Johnson has served as Principal Investigator on funded projects related to the Expansion and Enrichment of Clinical Teaching Opportunities for students at Hampton Institute and Searching for Talent and Enhancing Potential for Nursing at the University of the Virgin Islands. She was an ANA Ethnic Minority Fellow in its Institute for Health Policy Research. She received national recognition by the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing for developing an Exceptional Baccalaureate Curriculum in Gerontologic Nursing. The goal of the proposed Research Education/Training Core is to continue to encourage faculty/student/community partner participation in health disparities research through training, mentoring, and enrichment. The specific aim is to strengthen the research skills and expertise of UVI faculty members, students and community partners in health disparities research. This will be accomplished by building upon the positive outcomes realized through the structured mentoring and empowerment processes implemented in the Investigator Development and Mentoring Core in the initial funding cycle. During that cycle, distance education and an on-site intensive courses done by Hossein Yarandi, PhD, an advisory committee member/consultant from Wayne State University, were used to increase faculty knowledge of the research process. Mentoring of UVI faculty core directors by the co-directors from Johns Hopkins University and Case Western Reserve University resulted in the approval of four pilot study proposals by the UVI, Johns Hopkins, Case Western Reserve, and University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Institutional Review Boards and subsequent transmittal to the NCMHD. Additionally, a cadre of undergraduate nursing students completed training in human subject protection and interview data collection. Undergraduate students gained experience by assisting with collecting survey data and record reviews and preparing posters for presentation at the annual Caribbean EXPORT Center Health Disparities Institute. Students also dialogued with nursing professionals who had done research and published articles in refereed journals. Community members benefited from participating in the institutes, and collaborating with UVI faculty and mentors in developing pilot study proposals for consideration by the Research Core.